1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to toys and amusement devices, and more particularly, to an interactive toy with sound-based action synchronization.
2. Related Art
Children are often attracted to interactive amusement devices that provide both visual and aural stimulation. In recognizing this attraction, a wide variety have been developed throughout recent history, beginning with the earliest “talking dolls” that produced simple phrasings with string-activated wood and paper bellows, or crying sounds with weight activated cylindrical bellows having holes along its side. These talking dolls were typically limited to crying “mama” or “papa.”
Further advancements utilized wax cylinder phonograph recordings that were activated with manually wound clockwork-like mechanisms. Various phrases were recorded on the phonographs for playback through the dolls to simulate dialogue. Still popular among collectors today, one historically significant embodiment of a talking doll is the “Bebe Phonographe” made by the Jumeau Company in the late 19th century. In addition to spoken words, music was also recorded on the phonograph so that the doll could sing songs and nursery rhymes.
Thereafter, dolls having an increased repertoire of ten to twenty spoken phrases were developed. The speaking function was activated with a pull of a string that activated a miniature phonograph disk containing the pre-recorded phrases. The “Chatty Cathy” talking doll includes such a pull string-activated mechanism.
In addition to the aforementioned speaking capabilities, there have been efforts to make a doll more lifelike with movable limbs and facial features. Further, the movement of such features was synchronized with the audio output. For example, when a phrase was uttered, the jaws of the doll could be correspondingly moved. The instructions required for such synchronized animation of the features of the doll were stored in a cassette recording with the control signals and the audio signal.
One deficiency with these earlier talking dolls was the rather low degree of interactivity between the doll and the child, as the input to trigger speaking and movement was limited to decidedly mechanical modalities such as pulling a string, turning a crank, or pushing a button. Further improvements involved dolls with basic sensors such as piezoelectric buzzers that, when triggered, cause the doll to respond immediately by outputting a sound or movement. Examples of such devices include the “Interactive Sing & Chat BRUIN™ Bear” from Toys ‘R’ Us, Inc. of Wayne, N.J. With substantial improvements in digital data processing and storage, however, dolls having greater interactivity became possible. Instead of mechanical activation, the child provided a voice command to the doll. The received audio signal was processed by a voice recognition engine to evaluate what command was issued. Based upon the evaluated command, a response was generated from a vocabulary of words and phrases stored in memory. A central processor controlled a speech synthesizer that vocalized the selected response. In conjunction with the vocalized speech, an accompanying musical soundtrack could be generated by an instrument synthesizer. The central processor could also control various motors that were coupled to the features of the doll in order to simulate life-like actions.
These animated toys typically portrayed popular characters that appeared in other entertainment modalities such as television shows and movies, and accordingly appeared and sounded alike. Some commercially available toys with these interactive features include Furby® from Hasbro, Inc. of Pawtucket, R.I. and Barney® from HiT Entertainment Limited of London, United Kingdom.
Despite the substantially increased interactivity with these dolls, there remain a number of deficiencies. Some parents and child psychologists argue that these dolls do nothing to stimulate a child's imagination because they are reduced to reacting passively to a toy, much like watching television. Notwithstanding the increased vocabulary, the limited number of acceptable commands and responses has proven interaction to be repetitious at best. Although children may initially be fascinated, they soon become cognizant of the repetition as the thrill wears off, and thus quickly lose interest. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved amusement device. Furthermore, there is a need for interactive toys with sound-based action synchronization.